Kenya: Emergency aid for drought-stricken nomads

Malteser International distributes food and water to nearly 5,000 in Marsabit County

A prolonged period of poor rainfall has caused punishing water shortages across northern Kenya. Photo: Petra Dilthey/eeem.org

A recent survey of children under five reported that the first signs of undernutrition can already be seen. Photo: Petra Dilthey/eeem.org

Malteser International provided emergency relief in the form of food and medicine that helped more than 80,000 people during the 2011 drought, which affected millions across the horn of Africa. Photo: Petra Dilthey/eeem.org

Cologne: A prolonged period of poor rainfall has caused punishing water shortages across northern Kenya. In parts of Marsabit County, the biting drought has begun to reach life-threatening levels. Urgent action is needed to stave off a deadly spiral of destruction as food prices rise, and livestock begins to die off. Ninety percent of households in the area said they have been unable to produce milk in the last month, and a recent survey of children under five reported that the first signs of undernutrition can already be seen.

“Local people are facing appalling conditions, and many are getting desperate, without rain or the hope of relief, conflicts are starting to arise between nomads competing for water and grasslands,” said Anne Hild, Malteser International’s Kenya Manager. “We have initiated an emergency relief program to rapidly distribute food supplies and water for drinking, cooking, and hygiene to 4,800 of the most severely affected people in the area in order to save lives, alleviate suffering, and help the threatened communities to make it through the drought. We are working closely with local authorities to monitor the situation, and respond to any changes.”

Malteser International has been working in Kenya since 2001, with a particular focus on the fight against HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis in the country, and on helping ensure members of the country’s marginalized nomadic and seminomadic communities to build their resilience to droughts. Malteser International provided emergency relief in the form of food and medicine that helped more than 80,000 people during the 2011 drought, which affected millions across the horn of Africa.

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